Vaibhav Sooryavanshi won hearts with his 96 off 47 balls but Shubman Gill won the match for Gujarat Titans with his 104 off 53 balls in Mullanpur on Friday.
The seven-wicket victory with eight balls remaining helped the Titans set up a title clash with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru at their home ground in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
On a wicket where the ball came nicely onto the bat as the game progressed, Rajasthan Royals struggled with the momentum because of the regular fall of wickets. Only Sooryavanshi lived up to the challenge despite a slow start — 31-ball half-century, his slowest in this edition — along with Donovan Ferreira (38 not out off 13) in the closing stages.
Sooryavanshi had to overcome a two-paced pitch in the intial stages, a weak middle-order that turned chaotic with an injury to new No. 4 Ravindra Jadeja, and a Titans bowling attack that could exploit the conditions.
Once the wonder kid accelerated, there was no stopping him. None of the Titans bowlers were spared as he smashed eight boundaries and seven sixes during his innings. His tally of sixes in the tournament swelled to 72.
He notched up one century in IPL 2026 (against Sunrisers Hyderabad), but was
dismissed thrice in the nineties. His adventurous ways were responsible for his exit on Saturday.
Sooryavanshi remains the highest run-getter in this edition with 776 in 16 innings at a strike rate of 237. Gill is second on 722 and has a chance to overtake him in the final. Sai Sudharsan, who was once again dismissed hit wicket, is third on 710.
Captain on song
Gill and Sudharsan added 69 in the Powerplay which set up the Titans’ 215-run chase. Jofra Archer seemed off the mark and though Nandre Burger extracted some extra bounce, it was not enough to trouble the opening pair.
Gill brought up his half-century with a sensational six and a four off Tushar Deshpande in the ninth over. He then followed it up with a cut and a misfield that fetched more runs.
Riyan Parag struggled to plug the loopholes on the field as runs came in a hurry for the Titans. The 167-run opening stand had ended the Royals’ challenge. The pair now have the most number of century-stands in T20s, going past the 10 between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
Gill, playing in his hometown Chandigarh, brought up the century by charging against Jadeja. The hundred came off 47 balls, the quickest by a Titans player and then celebrated in his signature fashion — removing his helmet, raising his arms and taking a bow.
“I was in the kind of zone where I was just looking at the gaps and the bowler and trying to hit it there. That’s what happens when you’re batting well, you see the gaps and middle it,” Gill said.
The Royals were left to rue the missed chances. “It was a par score... 215 was defendable but I felt that after the heavy roller the wicket got a little better. I feel in the first innings spinners got a bit more grip and shorter slower balls were sticking more,” Parag said.
Toss confusion
A potential controversy erupted before the start as the match referee failed to hear the call and asked for a repeat of the toss. Gill, the
losing captain, was not enthused as Royals captain Parag called it correctly since both the sides wanted to bat first on a used surface.
Gill though didn’t have much to complain about in the end. “There was some confusion there but happy to get the win,” the Titans captain said.
